First Cycle

Rating:
Summary: A Cold War warning transposed into Science Fiction.
Review: A good answer to the question of who wins an atomic war. Finished after Piper's death from a manuscript. Written just after Uller Uprising, and probably abandoned as other projects came up. Still, a good philosophical tale in the standard Piper manner: you never realize that you're being preached to.

Rating:
Summary: A must-read
Review: When a wandering red dwarf star enters an established solar system, it splits a giant planet in half and creates two sister planets upon both of which intelligent life evolves. One planet gets most of the water, and its humanoids evolve to be religious, hierarchical, socialistic, and sneaky. The other world is dry, and its humanoids evolve to be atheistic (to the point of having no concept of gods), individualistic, capitalistic, and honest. Once contact is established, can two such different species get along, and if not, then what will be the cost?

Mr. H. Beam Piper is probably one of the most underrated science-fiction authors. He was a master of presenting unique milieus in a fascinating and understandable manner. First Cycle, succeeds in being both thought provoking and spellbinding, and is (in my opinion) one of Piper's best stories ever. As always, the worlds herein are unusual and presented in a scientific manner that makes them seem so very real. This is one book you really must read!